Following Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix, where he had started 10th on the grid, he said: “I’ve got to say a big thanks to the team because the strategy was fantastic.

“We knew there was the chance to get into the points today, and we did a good job to make it happen.”

Team-mate Daniil Kvyat finished one place ahead of Albon to make it a great weekend for Toro Rosso who will look to repeat their success at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal next weekend.

How the Suffolk Free Press was covering Alex Albon during his karting days in 2010 (11285763)

Albon, born in London on March 23, 1996, has daul nationality, and is only the second ever driver to race in Formula 1 sporting the flag of Thailand (the first was Birabongse Bhanudej Bhanubandh, known as B. Bira, raced in the early 1950s).

His father Nigel is English and used to race in touring cars in the early Nineties and his mother is Thai.

Alex is Scuderia Toro Rosso’s newest driver and like all F1 drivers, started karting at a very young age, winning the Super 1 Honda National Championship (Cadet and KF3 classes) in 2006 and 2009 and in 2010 he was crowned European Champion (see Suffolk Free Press cutting above).

In 2012, he joined the Red Bull Junior Programme, racing in the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup.

After a difficult year, Albon left the programme, but his determination saw him fight his way back to the top: in 2016, he proved his worth, finishing second in GP3, behind winner Charles Leclerc.

For the past two seasons, he has raced in Formula 2, first with ART Grand Prix and then with DAMS, finishing third in 2018 with four wins, three pole positions and four more podium finishes. These results, combined with his perseverance saw him recalled to the Red Bull Programme and at the start of the 2019 Formula 1 season he made hisdebut alongside team-mate Daniil Kvyat.